Jurevicius Leaves Bucs to Be With Wife

Published 12:40 pm, Monday, April 25, 2016

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Joe Jurevicius left the team Friday to join his wife in Ohio after she gave birth a month prematurely.

Coach Jon Gruden said he thought Jurevicius would be back with the Bucs for the NFC championship game Sunday against Philadelphia.

"We expect him to be here tomorrow, but we'll see how the situation unfolds in the next 24 hours," Gruden said after the Bucs arrived in Philadelphia.

"It's all his decision. This is a very personal matter. It involves his family and we're concerned, as he is, for the well-being of his family," he said.

If Jurevicius doesn't play, he would be replaced by Karl Williams in Tampa Bay's three-receiver sets.

Jurevicius, signed as a free agent from the New York Giants in the offseason, was Tampa Bay's fourth-leading receiver in the regular season with 37 catches for 423 yards and four touchdowns. He had a 20-yard TD catch in last week's 31-6 playoff win over San Francisco.